Looks like we'll be a Tivo/Nielsen family

Originally posted by Ziggie I guess that's the difference between you and me

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Ziggie, I have no problem with you giving the information away for free. I would not be inclined to do so for the folowing reasons:

1. I paid for the TiVo(s).
2. I paid for the TiVo subscription(s).
3. I paid for the TV.
4. I paid for the cable.
5. I paid for the TiVo networking.
6. I paid for the electricity to run all of the above.
7. I paid the mortage, insurance, and taxes on the structure that houses
the above.
8. It involves my time and my choices.

I would not do it for free. IMHO, any data that Nielsen collects will be used to design more targeted commericals rather than programming.

Originally posted by simonalope I just got the call as well - wheee! From what others have said on the boards, it sounds like it's currently impossible to be a "real" Nielsen Family (the people who actually determine ratings) as a TiVo user - they just don't have the hardware set up for TiVo yet. I am guessing this TiVo-Nielsen partnership will, among other goals, help them figure out how to include DVR users in the Nielsen ratings.
I have a feeling I was one of the simpler phone surveys to do - one person in the household, one TV, one TiVo/DVD combo, one cable provider, and that's it.

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Nielsen will be including TIVO users next year in their ratings metrics, a year ahead of schedule. This is due to pressure from advertisers who want a better measure of the DVRs impact on ads.

Whether it will inlclude the current pool of TIVO particpants is anyone's guess.

I got no clear answers to some questions (from the caller), so I'll post 'em here ...
1. What duration will this data be collected for (seems like its 3 years - anything concrete?)
2. How/when can I pull out of the survey, if I choose to?

Waiting for the paper/dox hoping they include more details.

And what's with the disallowing of pre-emptive answers to save one's time - the caller insisted she had to read out the entire question. Hmmm ...

Originally posted by ashutoshsm And what's with the disallowing of pre-emptive answers to save one's time - the caller insisted she had to read out the entire question. Hmmm ...

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That is standard survey methodology. The survey-taker must stick to the exact same script and proceed in the exact same manner for each interview. Obviously, when the question is "I will now ask you whether you own any of this 12-item list of electronics components" and you know you have nothing except a TV and a TiVo, it's annoying, but I'm sure there are people who would otherwise forget to mention something. Scripting becomes even more critical if you're surveying attitudes (you'll get very different responses for "Who are you voting for?" versus "Given that Governor Picklemore was convicted of puppy-kicking, do you think he is qualified to replace President Whatever, who has admitted to stealing candy from the elderly?") Nielsen has to stick to these protocols to ensure the validity of their data.

Actually during the income question, I was specially told to stop her when I hit her number. I also did forget that I had a DVD/VHS combo box hooked up to the TV in the living room.

We also had to go round a little about the question about the remote control since I use a universal remote but my wife only uses the Tivo remote on her set.

I've had to deal with surveys where the taker didn't seem to care and couldn't think past their script. But the woman I talked to was very nice and seemed to actually listen to my responses and reacted to them.

Huh - mine was starting to get annoyed at my detailed responses, as much as my (attempted) pre-emptive responses. And I swear - I never draw that kind of reaction usually. Really!

as for the 'do you use TiVo's remote to turn on the TV' question, mine varies SO much (I use universal remotes, home theater remote, TV remote when I want to change progressive/interlaced and/or 4:3 or 16:9 mode, captions etc etc etc), that I truhfully said "Some of the time"

According to my caller ID, I've been getting calls from them while I'm at work, and they never leave a message. I called the number (813 area code) tonight and got a recorded message advising me to call an 800 number. The rep with whom I spoke told me that they'll "eventually reach me." I'm not sure how, if they always call when I'm not around.

When I got called a few weeks ago (non-TiVo related so they turned me down since I use TiVo) they called a bunch of times during the day and never left a message.

Finally one day they left a message telling me to call their 800 number after hours. I did and spoke to an answering service (human being but not Nielsen).

About a week later they finally got ahold of me. I had given the answering service my daytime work number but they never used it. *sigh* I think they FINALLY started leaving messages and a regular return number. Luckily I got home one day in time to return their call during business hours.

Originally posted by Booka Ziggie, I have no problem with you giving the information away for free. I would not be inclined to do so for the folowing reasons:

1. I paid for the TiVo(s).
2. I paid for the TiVo subscription(s).
3. I paid for the TV.
4. I paid for the cable.
5. I paid for the TiVo networking.
6. I paid for the electricity to run all of the above.
7. I paid the mortage, insurance, and taxes on the structure that houses
the above.
8. It involves my time and my choices.

I would not do it for free. IMHO, any data that Nielsen collects will be used to design more targeted commericals rather than programming.

Originally posted by tmesser According to my caller ID, I've been getting calls from them while I'm at work, and they never leave a message. I called the number (813 area code) tonight and got a recorded message advising me to call an 800 number. The rep with whom I spoke told me that they'll "eventually reach me." I'm not sure how, if they always call when I'm not around.

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How about forwarding your home calls to your cell phone?

Got my phone call today too.
Like you guys, they're probably going to learn how much I hate commercials!
Almost everything I watch, except for most sporting events and news, is pre-recorded for later viewing.
Sorry if this link was posted earlier in the thread.

I also got called today. Same thing, survey, said they would mail the agreement to sign. One thing that was said was that it was to determine duration of DVR viewing... not the choices that are made but how long they sit on yout tivo before they get watch... anyone else hear this? I would also like for them to count WHAT I watch than how long it take me to get around to watching it.. No.t sure if data will be used to how long something can sit without evaporating on the hard drive. I asked it they document the size of the drive when reviewing date on storage before viewing... and was told no at this time that was not documentsed. I would love to hear feedback on the contract to be signed when the person whos wife is a lawyer take a look at it.

That's funny, I was thinking about this the other day. I also filled out the paperwork and mailed everything in. I never heard from them again. As far as i'm concerned My TiVo is still part of the Nielsen family. Is there anyway to find if they are still tracking what were watching?